I am trying to change my body clock so that I have more time on the bike in the day light and I am not so worried about making sure that I get somewhere at night before it gets dark. If I start earlier then I can finish earlier (or maybe just to more kms). I was up at 6.30 and on the road by about 7.30. No where was open in town to get a coffee or breakfast (breakfast I can cope without - coffee on the other hand is a must if I am up at 6.30).
After riding about 10km I saw a little place which does tea on the side of the road. I stopped off to get some hot milk and water for my coffee. There were about 20 lorry drivers there all squatting around the tea stand. I find it amazing that they are so comfortable squatting like they do for ages. I have decided that I must do more of this....
As I biked along today I noticed this Strange wooden structure with flag on the top in the distance. No idea what it was (photo to follow).
Today I also saw several banana trees which had their branches chopped off and had a red flag on the top. Again I have no idea why. Religious thing??
I passed through several small towns. The school had just let the children out for lunch as I was passing through this town. It was interesting to see the contrast between Indian and English school children. I have hardly ever seen school children of different sexes mixing. Friendships in India are usually only formed between members of the same sex. This could be seen very clearly as the children walked through the town. The boys walked on one side of the road, the girls on the other. There were only a few groups that did not walk on the same side as most of the other children of the same sex. The school uniforms In India are very cute. Often the girls all have the same hair as well. It is great when they have plats.
The countryside is very brown with all of the wheat that has been recently harvested. It is still very hilly and it was a tough day. As it is so hilly and a little boring on the highway (although the traffic is not too bad) I partly regretted not sticking to the coastal route on the small lanes as I had planned (but I changed my mind based on the advice from several Indians). The problem with that rural coastal route was that the road conditions were really bad and it was very hilly so I was not making very good progress to catch my train North. It is also rather more dangerous for a girl on her own as there are not very many people or towns about and I did not want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere in the dark with no idea where the next lodge was. However, Alan (cyclist that I am meeting in North India) said that the route he took from Mumbai to Goa was some of the best cycle touring he has ever done. I had been really enjoying the roads North of Goa before I turned off to the highway but I did not feel particularly safe. Several Indian men had suggested to me that I should not take the rural coastal route on my own.... I am not sure whether taking the highway was a good decision or not or how the countryside varied between the 2 routes. Oh well, just part of traveling....
The last section of today's ride was nice as I got off the highway and took a short cut on a little country road through some villages. There were sections where the road was really bad and it was extremely steep but I prefer this any day to biking on a highway. I should reiterate though that this section of the highway was not very busy - like a quiet A road in the UK. I had been on much busier sections of highway around Mangalore area and that I really did not enjoy.
I only managed to bike 110km today even though my aim was for 140km. It was just too hilly with a strong head wind and I ended up having to stop at 5.45 as there were no lodges for 32km north and I would not make that before it was dark. It took me a while to work this out by talking to several locals. They all said the same thing. The problem was that the lodge in town was really bad and they wanted to rip me off 500RS for a 200RS room. It was flithy. The Rickshaw drivers where also saying that it would be 800RS for them to drive me to the next town - again a rip off. I don't like it when people are blatantly trying to rip me off because I have no other choice. It gave me a bad feeling about the town and I did not particularly enjoy staying there.
I did not fancy venturing out in the evening after dark and so I just had 2 chapatis for diner and stayed in my room. By the time I had organised the room and bartered them down to 400RS, washed my clothes and had something to eat I was tired and had an early night. I did not have any energy left to do my diary or blog once again.
Frustrating day.
This is a photo of the electricity supply for the hotel.
Photos
After riding about 10km I saw a little place which does tea on the side of the road. I stopped off to get some hot milk and water for my coffee. There were about 20 lorry drivers there all squatting around the tea stand. I find it amazing that they are so comfortable squatting like they do for ages. I have decided that I must do more of this....
As I biked along today I noticed this Strange wooden structure with flag on the top in the distance. No idea what it was (photo to follow).
Today I also saw several banana trees which had their branches chopped off and had a red flag on the top. Again I have no idea why. Religious thing??
I passed through several small towns. The school had just let the children out for lunch as I was passing through this town. It was interesting to see the contrast between Indian and English school children. I have hardly ever seen school children of different sexes mixing. Friendships in India are usually only formed between members of the same sex. This could be seen very clearly as the children walked through the town. The boys walked on one side of the road, the girls on the other. There were only a few groups that did not walk on the same side as most of the other children of the same sex. The school uniforms In India are very cute. Often the girls all have the same hair as well. It is great when they have plats.
The countryside is very brown with all of the wheat that has been recently harvested. It is still very hilly and it was a tough day. As it is so hilly and a little boring on the highway (although the traffic is not too bad) I partly regretted not sticking to the coastal route on the small lanes as I had planned (but I changed my mind based on the advice from several Indians). The problem with that rural coastal route was that the road conditions were really bad and it was very hilly so I was not making very good progress to catch my train North. It is also rather more dangerous for a girl on her own as there are not very many people or towns about and I did not want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere in the dark with no idea where the next lodge was. However, Alan (cyclist that I am meeting in North India) said that the route he took from Mumbai to Goa was some of the best cycle touring he has ever done. I had been really enjoying the roads North of Goa before I turned off to the highway but I did not feel particularly safe. Several Indian men had suggested to me that I should not take the rural coastal route on my own.... I am not sure whether taking the highway was a good decision or not or how the countryside varied between the 2 routes. Oh well, just part of traveling....
The last section of today's ride was nice as I got off the highway and took a short cut on a little country road through some villages. There were sections where the road was really bad and it was extremely steep but I prefer this any day to biking on a highway. I should reiterate though that this section of the highway was not very busy - like a quiet A road in the UK. I had been on much busier sections of highway around Mangalore area and that I really did not enjoy.
I only managed to bike 110km today even though my aim was for 140km. It was just too hilly with a strong head wind and I ended up having to stop at 5.45 as there were no lodges for 32km north and I would not make that before it was dark. It took me a while to work this out by talking to several locals. They all said the same thing. The problem was that the lodge in town was really bad and they wanted to rip me off 500RS for a 200RS room. It was flithy. The Rickshaw drivers where also saying that it would be 800RS for them to drive me to the next town - again a rip off. I don't like it when people are blatantly trying to rip me off because I have no other choice. It gave me a bad feeling about the town and I did not particularly enjoy staying there.
I did not fancy venturing out in the evening after dark and so I just had 2 chapatis for diner and stayed in my room. By the time I had organised the room and bartered them down to 400RS, washed my clothes and had something to eat I was tired and had an early night. I did not have any energy left to do my diary or blog once again.
Frustrating day.
This is a photo of the electricity supply for the hotel.
Photos
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